How do progressive populist Democrats compete with big business money?
We will probably be out-raised most of the time, but exciting campaigns can still raise the money they need
Since my last two columns about Democrats needing to be stronger in taking on corporate power, several people have said some version of, “Yeah, I agree in theory, but we need corporate cash to compete with the Republicans”. It is a fair question, and believe me, I have had some version of this conversation with people in Democratic politics for my entire career.
Given that I have been working to raise money for progressive populists and candidates and organizations/projects for 45 years now, I have lots of thoughts about this subject. I think it is important to divide this topic into two different areas, because raising money for candidates and raising money for non-electoral but really important projects like progressive media infrastructure and outside groups who do organizing on the ground are very different projects.
Focusing in on the media infrastructure side as the example I am working the most on right now, I have been making the argument to progressive foundations and donors that it is far more cost effective to invest in a network of locally oriented social media sites that build community, allow us to get good content to working class folks, and help us inoculate people from rightwing disinformation. I think that kind of approach is a really cost effective investment, far more so than, say, buying a new cable channel.
In terms of national platforms and content, the good news is that there is actually a very big audience for progressive content. Contrary to conventional wisdom, some of the biggest social media audiences are on the progressive side. Meidas Touch has often had more downloads than Rogan; Occupy Democrats has been one of the biggest Facebook pages for more than a decade; Faiz Shakir’s More Perfect Union videos often get several million views.
This doesn’t come close to solving the progressive media problem because our audiences are mostly politically plugged in urban liberals who generally talk to each other, which is very valuable but not enough – necessary but not sufficient, as the old saying goes. This is why I am such an advocate for investing in the kind of locally based sites I mentioned above. But showing that progressives can draw big numbers allows us to raise more money and start new projects, and sometimes gets corporate America to have more progressive content – back in the oughts and 2010s.
In terms of the candidates, progressive online donors who give small amounts, when they are excited by a candidate, are fully capable of raising huge amounts for campaigns. Elizabeth Warren raised more money for her Senate challenge against Scott Brown than any other Senate candidate that year. Bernie outraised Hillary the last few months of their 2016 primary. Bernie was the top fundraiser in the 2020 presidential primary, and for much of the race Elizabeth was number two. Both outraised Biden until South Carolina.
In Senate races over the years I’ve been involved in politics, progressive populists who were strong overall candidates have generally been able to compete financially. People like Paul Wellstone, Tom Harkin, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown, Beto, etc usually didn’t have all the money their opponents did but often had enough. House races are tougher because there are so many of them that it makes raising money online harder, but many great populist House candidates have done very well at raising the money they needed.
The key to raising enough online money is to show your fighting populist spirit. Which is one more reason to be willing to take on big corporate power.
In terms of the kinds of progressive money for candidates you can raise without big corporations' to help, in addition to online donations, here’s where I have tended to find the money over the years:
Labor
Trial lawyers
Hollywood
Rich liberals motivated by enviro, choice, civil rights, democracy, and other progressive causes
Small to medium sized businesses being fucked over by big business
Big industry sectors worried about getting crushed by Big Tech – there are a lot more of these in this movement where Big Tech is trying to crush everything in their path.
Progressive populists will never be able to raise as much money as the pro-big business team, that is a given. We have to run smarter, tougher, leaner campaigns. But I believe Democrats can raise the money they need to make a break with big corporate power if they have the guts to do it.